What are you listening 2 now?

Started by Gurn Blanston, September 23, 2019, 05:45:22 AM

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Roasted Swan

Quote from: vandermolen on October 04, 2020, 08:30:45 AM
Interesting RS. Of the CDs that you posted I have the Delius PC one which is indeed excellent and the Rubbra. That is a fine disc although I prefer both Hickox's and in particular Rubbra's own recording of Symphony No.4. However the Del Mar recording on Lyrita gave me much emotional pleasure and was, for many years, the only recording that I knew. I agree about Bax's 6th Symphony on Lyrita. The recording is very 'boxed in' which robs it of some atmosphere. I have the Bantock CD as well but haven't properly listened to it yet. Interesting about Delius and Del Mar being buried in the same graveyard. I'd always assumed that Delius was buried in France.

Now playing
Hilding Rosenberg: Symphony No.6 'Semplice'.
A pity that BIS did not record a complete cycle as they did for Vagn Holmboe:


Delius is buried in Limpsfield in Surrey - several other musicians are there as well;

https://www.stpeterslimpsfield.org/churchyard.html

From the church website (its a very beautiful buidling too);

"Amongst the musicians buried in the churchyard are Dr Eileen Joyce, the Australian born pianist, Sir Thomas Beecham the eminent British conductor, Normal Del Mar, another celebrated conductor, Frederick Delius and his wife Jelka. Delius is among the greatest of British composers and was a friend of Beatrice Harrison, who charmed the nightingales and is buried with her musical sisters in the churchyard. Jack Brymer the celebrated clarinettist whose career began when selected by Sir Thomas Beecham for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is the most recent musician to be buried here."

At the time of Delius' death he was buried in France but it was Beecham who was the prime mover to have him reinterred in England.  It caused considerable dispute at the time given that Delius professed no Christian faith and lived his entire adult life away from England...

Re the Rubbra; if you can do hear the Handley recording on BBC Radio Classics - a studio performance in the presence of Rubbra.  It is very fine indeed;


vandermolen

#25621
Quote from: Symphonic Addict on October 04, 2020, 02:27:06 PM


Symphony No. 11

A stellar recording and interpretation, although the 1st movement was too slow and quiet for my taste, and that goes for the work itself as well. The next 3 movements are much better. The Tocsin is one of the most thrilling things Shostakovich ever wrote. The tension and drama there are absolutely shattering!

It's a great performance Cesar which I originally owned on a double LP set (with Symphony 6 I think). They both also feature in the excellent Berglund Icon box set.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Papy Oli

Good morning all.

unfortunately, some tracks in each work are truncated to 30 secs samples by Qobuz, so only getting a general feel of thee works for now. Might head off to YT to listen further if interest is picked.

Olivier

vandermolen

Quote from: Roasted Swan on October 04, 2020, 11:51:05 PM
Delius is buried in Limpsfield in Surrey - several other musicians are there as well;

https://www.stpeterslimpsfield.org/churchyard.html

From the church website (its a very beautiful buidling too);

"Amongst the musicians buried in the churchyard are Dr Eileen Joyce, the Australian born pianist, Sir Thomas Beecham the eminent British conductor, Normal Del Mar, another celebrated conductor, Frederick Delius and his wife Jelka. Delius is among the greatest of British composers and was a friend of Beatrice Harrison, who charmed the nightingales and is buried with her musical sisters in the churchyard. Jack Brymer the celebrated clarinettist whose career began when selected by Sir Thomas Beecham for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is the most recent musician to be buried here."

At the time of Delius' death he was buried in France but it was Beecham who was the prime mover to have him reinterred in England.  It caused considerable dispute at the time given that Delius professed no Christian faith and lived his entire adult life away from England...

Re the Rubbra; if you can do hear the Handley recording on BBC Radio Classics - a studio performance in the presence of Rubbra.  It is very fine indeed;


Thanks RS. That website is most interesting. Extraordinary that Eileen Joyce, Beecham and Jack Brymer are buried there as well. I do have that BBC Radio Classics CD featuring Rubbra's 4th Symphony but haven't heard it for ages and will listen to it again very soon.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

pjme

Quote from: André on October 04, 2020, 03:15:58 PM
It was my first ever listen to that 'iconic'  ;) Salome.....

The Hétu disc is indeed quite fine. The piano concerto is neo-romantic in style and falls beautifully on the ear. The trombone concerto is the most interesting thing on the disc IMO. It is more adventurous (modern) but entirely approachable. Trudel is a master trombonist. He turned to conducting a few years ago and performs both roles here with equal success.
Thanks.

Christo

Quote from: Papy Oli on October 05, 2020, 12:17:06 AM
Good morning all.

unfortunately, some tracks in each work are truncated to 30 secs samples by Qobuz, so only getting a general feel of thee works for now. Might head off to YT to listen further if interest is picked.


Paysages franciscains is wonderful, reminding of Respighi.
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

amw

Quote from: ritter on October 04, 2020, 06:23:18 AM
My favourite of the four. A delightful, reined in work.
My personal favourite is still no.2 but I am well established to have terrible taste.



111. My version has a slightly different cover photo, with Mr. Pizarro not staring at me in quite such a creepy way. It's good, but a little rushed, at least in the first movement.

pjme

"Paysages franciscains is wonderful, reminding of Respighi."-
Exactly - albeit Respighi in his refined (Fontane) mood.
I like "religious" Pierné aswell. "l'An mil" is " A vast symphonic poem in three parts with a highly-detailed programme, it evokes the terror of the Christian world at the very end of the first millennium, when the prospect of an apocalypse announced in the Holy Scriptures became increasingly oppressive. The choice of this highly symbolic subject had been suggested to him by his friend the painter Luc-Olivier Merson, reputed for his works of mediaeval inspiration." (from the excellent Timpani booklet).
and
"Despite his being neither a fervent churchgoer nor even a devout Catholic, this great success—the work was awarded the Monbinne Prize shortly thereafter — would encourage him to continue in the path of religiosity, resulting in three large frescoes: La Croisade des enfants (1905), Les Enfants à Bethléem (1907) and Saint-François d'Assise (1912)."
La croisade gets very occasionally a performance in the Netherlands and Germany. I attended a performance in Utrecht ca. 40 years ago... Les enfants à Betléem  has a good Erato recording and saint François ( conducted by jean Fournet)can be heard on YT.
I love the use of folksongs or folksong-like melodies, Gregorian chant and ,IMO, splendid orchestration.

vers la flamme



Claudio Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Vergine. Martin Pearlman, Boston Baroque

Wow. What a jubilant performance. Pearlman makes this masterpiece of very early Baroque sacred music sound 150 years ahead of its time, evoking Handel and Vivaldi. Sounds amazing in my book.

Madiel

I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

Irons

Quote from: Roasted Swan on October 04, 2020, 04:29:07 AM
I am not sure I've ever heard of a general coolness towards Norman Del Mar.  He had a notoriously hard beat to follow but was acknowledged as a fine and thoughtful musician.  The question about his Bax 6 is really an engineering issue.  By the very high standards of Lyrita this disc is easily one of their worst recorded...  Del Mar produced several very well regarded recordings.  Here are a few of my favourites;

opulently recorded in a resonant Guildford Cathedral
he's very good in Delius - but takes a more muscular approach which works well
still the best Mass of Life.  A young Kiri Te Kanawa in a mini skirt caused the gentlemen of the BBCSO a degree of distraction.....
a great recording of Strauss rarities
a famous recording of these works too - the concerto with a very young Robert Cohen and "In the South" recorded in a single take
the best version of this sprawling work
another fine Lyrita disc - better than Hickox.....

and many more....

last interesting fact... Del mar is buried in the same churchyard in Surrey as Delius.....



Another (interesting fact)... Del Mar will probably be best remembered for his writings on the conductor's art and his three volume book on Richard Strauss.
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

vers la flamme



Morton Feldman: Two Pianos; Four Instruments; Vertical Thoughts 1. John Tilbury & Philip Thomas; plus Anton Lukoszevieze, Mira Benjamin & Rodrigo Constanzo for the Four Instruments

A great, great disc. One of my best purchases of this year.

Maestro267

Glazunov: Symphony No. 2
Russian State SO/Polyansky

Madiel

I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

Que


Traverso

Mozart

Overture  Cosi fan tutte
Symphony No.25
Adagio and Fugue K546
Symphony No.29
Symphony No.31




Todd

The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

Harry

Carlo Gesualdo.
Tenebrae-CD II
Graindelavoix, Björn Schmelzer.
Quote from Manuel, born in Spain, currently working at Fawlty Towers.

" I am from Barcelona, I know nothing.............."

T. D.